Steak with whisky? Lamb and mint sauce? Banana pudding? The menu for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is a closely guarded state secret, but one thing is assured: it will be very British.
“We wouldn’t really go into any of the specifics for the big day but we always concentrate on showing off the best of British produce — so your bets are safe on that,” said Mark Flanagan, chief chef for Queen Elizabeth II.
Over 300 guests have been invited to the meal on the evening of April 29, hours after the couple wed at London’s Westminster Abbey.
Photo: AFP
照片:法新社
“I think they’ll have as the first course some sort of salad with a terrine,” Darren McGrady, the personal chef to Princess Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry until Diana’s death in 1997, told AFP.
“I know that one of the most popular is the Gleneagles pate, which is like a terrine of smoked trout, smoked salmon and smoked mackerel pate”, explained McGrady, who also goes by nickname “The Royal Chef”.
“For the entree, I would see Gaelic steaks, tenderloin steaks in a whisky mushroom sauce, or an organic lamb from Highgrove”, the farm of Prince Charles, father of William.
In 1986, a “rack of lamb” (with mint sauce) was cooked up for the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
McGrady, who has also been personal chef to the queen, speculated on “a banana flan, a sort of sugar paste and creme patissiere inside with sliced bananas and apricot jelly” for dessert.
“When I cooked for Prince William, his favorite dessert was banana flan,” recalled McGrady. “Whenever he came over at weekends, he would ask for banana flan. The queen likes it, and he still does.”
The unmissable “fruitcake” will then follow.
Ordered from famous patissiere Fiona Cairns, who counts ex-Beatle Paul McCartney as a customer, the cake will be adorned by 16 flowers symbolizing, among other things, happiness (rose), tenderness (lily), and marriage (ivy), at the request of Kate Middleton.
A true work of art, the cake will be revealed at the reception, which will take place in the middle of the day in Buckingham Palace’s majestic Picture Gallery, under the gaze of Rembrandt, Poussin and Rubens paintings.
Next to the wedding cake will be a more humble chocolate cake favoured by Prince William, made using the famous McVitie’s “tea biscuits”.
“When Prince William was a young boy he would have it for tea and really enjoyed it”, explained Paul Courtney, the pastry chef for McVitie’s.
Steaks, fruitcake, tea biscuits: the meal will be “as British as possible”, admitted McGrady.
However, as is the tradition, the menu will be written entirely in French.
(AFP)
牛排佐威士忌?羊排佐薄荷醬?還是香蕉布丁?英國威廉王子和凱特.密道頓的婚宴菜單是被嚴密保護的國家機密,但可確定的一件事是:餐點一定會「很英國」。
英國女王伊麗莎白二世的王牌大廚馬克‧佛蘭納根說:「我們不能詳細描述這個大喜日子的菜色,但我們總是著重在展現最好的英國產品─所以你往那方面去賭,準萬無一失。」
四月二十九日在倫敦西敏寺教堂的結婚典禮過後,超過三百名賓客獲邀參加當天的晚宴。
達倫‧麥格拉迪告訴法新社:「我猜他們第一道菜會是某種沙拉搭配魚肉凍。」直到黛安娜王妃於一九九七年逝世前,他一直是黛安娜王妃、威廉王子與哈利王子的專屬廚師。
有「皇室大廚」綽號的麥格拉迪解釋:「我知道最受歡迎的是葛籣伊格爾斯肉凍,那是種用燻鱒魚、燻鮭魚和燻鯖魚做成的魚肉凍。」
他說,「我想主菜會是蓋爾式牛排,也就是里肌牛排佐威士忌蘑菇醬汁,或是海格羅夫產的有機羊排。」海格羅夫是威廉王子父親查爾斯王子擁有的農場。
回溯一九八六年,安德魯王子和莎拉.佛格森的婚宴菜單就烹調一道「小羊排」(佐薄荷醬)。
同樣擔任女王御廚的麥格拉迪猜測,甜點會是「香蕉餡餅,一種糖膏和奶油餡做成的甜點,內部有香蕉切片和杏桃凍」。
麥格拉迪回憶說:「當我為威廉王子烹調時,他最愛的甜點就是香蕉餡餅。」他說,「他週末來訪時都會要求吃香蕉餡餅。女王很喜歡,而他喜愛依舊。」
接著是一道不能錯過的「水果蛋糕」。
由知名蛋糕師菲奧娜‧凱恩斯烘焙製作,應凱特‧密道頓的要求,蛋糕將裝飾十六種不同花朵,各有其象徵:幸福(玫瑰)、溫柔(百合花)與婚姻(長春藤)。凱恩斯視前披頭四團員保羅.麥卡尼為他的主顧。
這個蛋糕為一個真正的藝術品,它將於白金漢宮一個壯觀的畫廊內,在林布蘭、普桑與魯本斯等畫作的見證下公諸於世。
婚禮蛋糕之後是威廉王子喜愛,也比較平實的巧克力蛋糕,食材是麥維他公司著名的茶點消化餅。
麥維他公司糕餅烘培廚師保羅‧考特尼說,「當威廉王子還是個男孩時,他喝茶時會吃它(消化餅),且很享受它(的美味)。」
麥格拉迪承認,牛排、水果蛋糕、茶點消化餅:這頓餐將會是「盡可能地英國」。
不過,依照傳統,婚禮菜單將全用法文寫成。
(法新社/翻譯:林亞蒂)
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